ORIGINAL ARTICLE doi:10.1111/evo.12824 The genetic basis of color-related local adaptation in a ring-like colonization around the Mediterranean Reto Burri,1,2,∗ Sylvain Antoniazza,3,4,∗ Arnaud Gaigher,5 Anne-Lyse Ducrest,3 Celine´ Simon,3 The European Barn Owl Network,6 Luca Fumagalli,5 Jer´ omeˆ Goudet,3,† and Alexandre Roulin3,† 1Department of Evolutionary Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvagen¨ 18D, SE-75236 Uppsala, Sweden 2E-mail:
[email protected] 3Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Biophore, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland 4Swiss Ornithological Institute, Seerose 1, CH-6204 Sempach, Switzerland 5Laboratory for Conservation Biology, Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Biophore, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland 6Members and affiliations of this group author are listed in the Supplementary Information Received January 19, 2015 Accepted November 9, 2015 Uncovering the genetic basis of phenotypic variation and the population history under which it established is key to understand the trajectories along which local adaptation evolves. Here, we investigated the genetic basis and evolutionary history of a clinal plumage color polymorphism in European barn owls (Tyto alba). Our results suggest that barn owls colonized the Western Palearctic in a ring-like manner around the Mediterranean and meet in secondary contact in Greece. Rufous coloration appears to be linked to a recently evolved nonsynonymous-derived variant of the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) gene, which according to quantitative genetic analyses evolved under local adaptation during or following the colonization of Central Europe. Admixture patterns and linkage disequilibrium between the neutral genetic background and color found exclusively within the secondary contact zone suggest limited introgression at secondary contact.